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2012 Storms Into 1st
Roland Emmerich's 2012 pulls in $225 mil worldwide. By
Jarrod Sarafin
November 15, 2009
John Cusack in Roland Emmerich's disaster adventure, 2012(2009).
© Columbia Pictures
The holiday box office season hasn’t technically started, what with Thanksgiving still ten days away, but our weekend numbers for this report could certainly hold their own against summer & holiday competition. Showing off the fact that the audiences continue to support director Roland Emmerich’s passion for destroying the world, Sony Pictures debuted his latest mass disaster flick 2012 into 3,404 theaters across the nation and raked in an impressive $65.0 million in domestic receipts in its first three days of release.
It wasn’t just North American audiences favoring the nod to global destruction because the film also accumulated an amazing $160 million over its first weekend in 105 foreign territories. These numbers combined has the studio grossing $225 million worldwide in just their first weekend of release, a full $25 mil past their budget of $200 mil.
Sony may be in good shape for their $200 million disaster epic but the jury is still out for Walt Disney’s more family-friendly 3D remake of A Christmas Carol, which clocks in with the same price tag. The film lands in 2nd place by adding another $22.3 million in its second weekend of release. While this is only a 25% drop from its debut, insiders are wondering whether it can overcome that sizeable budget before its demographic competition (Planet 51, The Princess and the Frog, Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel) arrives to take over the PG audience.
Overture should be pleased with their comedy, The Men Who Stare at Goats, maintaining the 3rd place spot for their second weekend in a row. The George Clooney release pulled in an estimated $6.2 million to increase the domestic tally to $23.3 million after ten days of release. Respectable numbers for a film which cost only $25 mil to produce.
Lionsgate also continues to grab incredible numbers with their limited release, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire. Gaining momentum after averaging $100,000 per screen last weekend, the studio increased the distribution into 174 theaters this weekend and found the 4th place spot as a result. It grabbed an estimated $6.0 million and averaged $35,000 per showing in its second weekend of release. After ten days of release, it has $8.9 million.
And taking the 5th place spot is Sony’s documentary event, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, which took in another $5.1 million. After three weekends of release, it has taken in $68.2 million domestically and another $129.1 million in foreign markets.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total | Budget |
| 1 | 2012 | $65.0 mil | 3,404 | $19,095 | $65.0 mil | $200 |
| 2 | A Christmas Carol | $22.3 mil | 3,683 | $6,062 | $63.2 mil | $200 |
| 3 | The Men Who Stare at Goats | $6.2 mil | 2,453 | $2,528 | $23.3 mil | $25 |
| 4 | Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” | $6.0 mil | 174 | $35,000 | $8.9 mil | $10 |
| 5 | Michael Jackson’s This Is It | $5.1 mil | 3,037 | $1,679 | $68.2 mil | ---- |
| 6 | The Fourth Kind | $4.7 mil | 2,530 | $1,875 | $20.5 mil | ---- |
| 7 | Couples Retreat | $4.2 mil | 2,509 | $1,695 | $102.1 mil | $70 |
| 8 | Paranormal Activity | $4.2 mil | 2,712 | $1,549 | $103.8 mil | $15,000 |
| 9 | Law Abiding Citizen | $3.9 mil | 2,071 | $1,899 | $67.3 mil | $50 |
| 10 | The Box | $3.1 mil | 2,635 | $1,209 | $13.2 mil | $30 |
And it’s now time for Twilight to return to the box office. While genre fans debate the merit of the franchise, there can be no denying the bankability of Summit’s adaptations. Last year’s Twilight ranks on top of the all-time vampire category with a domestic gross of $191.4 million. The film, which cost only $30 million to produce, would go on to take in a worldwide cume of $383.6 million in 2008.
And this next film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, is tracking even higher based on pre-release sales, with midnight premieres sold out across the nation.
We shall see how it does next Sunday. Make your predictions below.
Friday November 20, 2009 Releases:
Wide
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (4,000+)
The Blind Side (3,100+)
Planet 51 (2,600+)
Limited
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Red Cliff
Broken Embraces
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